Couple raises more than $10 million to reunite migrant children with parents

A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the U.S.-Mexico border on June 12, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. The asylum seekers had rafted across the Rio Grande from Mexico and were detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents before being sent to a processing center for possible separation.

It's the largest single fundraiser to date using Facebook Fundraisers.The so-called RAICES campaign to raise money to reunite immigrant parents with their children is going viral and has brought in more than $10 million as of mid-Wednesday since it launched Saturday at 8 a.m.Disturbed by photos of immigrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, former Facebook employees and Bay Area residents Charlotte and Dave Willner posted the campaign to raise money for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a nonprofit in Texas offering free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees.Their original goal was to bring in $1,500, the minimum amount to to cover bail bond fees for one person being held in detention. "Regardless of political party, so many of us are distraught over children being separated from their parents at the border," the Willners said in a statement. "We can't all be on the frontlines to help these families, but by supporting RAICES, we're able to do something that just takes less than a minute, and collectively have an impact. When we all come together in community efforts like this, we can find an antidote to the feelings of helplessness."The average donation to the campaign is $50, and on Tuesday morning, $4,000 a minute was pouring in.Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have both donated.Charlotte Willner now works at Pinterest, and Dave Willner at Airbnb.RAICES responded to the generous donations toward the efforts on Facebook. "We do not have the words to thank Charlotte and Dave Willner. We've been occasionally crying around the office all day when we check the fundraising totals. There are terrible things happening in the world. And there are many people who are deciding not to look away but to do something."

It's the largest single fundraiser to date using Facebook Fundraisers.

The so-called RAICES campaign to raise money to reunite immigrant parents with their children is going viral and has brought in more than $10 million as of mid-Wednesday since it launched Saturday at 8 a.m.

Advertisement

Disturbed by photos of immigrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, former Facebook employees and Bay Area residents Charlotte and Dave Willner posted the campaign to raise money for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a nonprofit in Texas offering free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees.

Their original goal was to bring in $1,500, the minimum amount to to cover bail bond fees for one person being held in detention.

"Regardless of political party, so many of us are distraught over children being separated from their parents at the border," the Willners said in a statement. "We can't all be on the frontlines to help these families, but by supporting RAICES, we're able to do something that just takes less than a minute, and collectively have an impact. When we all come together in community efforts like this, we can find an antidote to the feelings of helplessness."

The average donation to the campaign is $50, and on Tuesday morning, $4,000 a minute was pouring in.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have both donated.

Charlotte Willner now works at Pinterest, and Dave Willner at Airbnb.

RAICES responded to the generous donations toward the efforts on Facebook. "We do not have the words to thank Charlotte and Dave Willner. We've been occasionally crying around the office all day when we check the fundraising totals. There are terrible things happening in the world. And there are many people who are deciding not to look away but to do something."